Enrique Sosa to Keynote 2004 MSU Hunter Henry Lectureship
February 2, 2004
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Former Amoco and Dow executive Enrique J. Sosa will discuss his 35-year career in the chemical industry during a Feb. 19 program at Mississippi State.
Sosa will keynote the Hunter Henry Lectureship in Chemical Engineering, a public event to begin at 3:30 p.m. in the George Eastman Auditorium of the university’s Swalm School of Chemical Engineering Building.
He will be the third speaker in a series sponsored by the Bagley College of Engineering to honor Henry, a Canton native, 1950 MSU chemical engineering graduate and major university benefactor. Previous speakers included Bobby S. Shackouls and Michael D. Parker, top executives of Burlington Resources Inc. and Dow Chemical Co., respectively.
Sosa, who oversaw worldwide chemical and marketing operations for Amoco before the corporation merged with BP in 1999, will lead a presentation titled “Looking Back on 35 Years in the Chemical Industry.”
As executive vice president, Sosa headed Amoco’s chemicals sector before becoming president of BP Amoco Chemicals after the two companies merged. Prior to joining Amoco, he was senior vice president of Dow Chemical and president of Dow North America. He also was a member of Dow’s board of directors and executive committee.
A native of Cuba, Sosa has been a U.S. citizen since 1971. He maintains residences in Chicago and Key Biscayne, Fla.
Sosa, who joined Dow in 1964, holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in agriculture from the University of Florida. He serves on the board of directors at FMC Corp. and DSM of the Netherlands, a position he formerly held with Electronic Data Systems, Dow Corning Corp. and Destec Energy.
Henry, retired Dow Chemical USA president and the lectureship’s namesake, was a five-term selection for the MSU Foundation’s board of directors. He also devoted 15 years to the engineering college’s advisory boards.
Henry has combined a career as top-level Dow executive with a lifetime of philanthropy and public service. Beginning with Dow in 1951, he rose quickly through a series of vice presidential positions, including management of one of Dow’s largest operating divisions. He became Dow Chemical USA president in 1982 and served as executive vice president of the parent company until retiring in 1988.
MSU’s 1988 national alumnus of the year, Henry was the lead donor for construction of an $12 million building to house foundation and alumni association offices. Dedicated last year, the massive stainless steel-and-glass Hunter Henry Center now is the university’s most distinctive structure.
MSU’s chemical engineering school is named for former Brookhaven resident Dave Swalm, another alumnus and major university benefactor. The school is a major unit of the engineering college.